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Canada
Sprint Weekend
Qualifying1h 24m
Oliver Bearman’s FIA superlicence tally dropped from 10 penalty points to eight ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix Sprint after the two points he received on 23 May 2025 for overtaking Carlos Sainz under red flags in Monaco practice expired 12 months on. That eases the Haas driver’s race-ban risk, although he still has the highest total in the field; his next points to expire are the four he received for his red-flag pitlane crash at the 2025 British Grand Prix, which are due to come off on 5 July.
PETA has urged Canadian Grand Prix organisers to introduce stronger wildlife deterrents after Alex Albon crashed out of Friday’s sole practice session at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve while taking evasive action to avoid a marmot, damage that also kept the Williams driver out of sprint qualifying. In a statement provided to Motorsport.com, PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk praised Albon and called for action: “Alex Albon’s decision to swerve to try to miss hitting a marmot on the track makes him a winner,” and added, “PETA hopes this incident will prompt organisers to implement stronger deterrent measures to protect the animals who call these areas home and the drivers themselves.”
The FIA stewards briefly checked the two George Russell/Kimi Antonelli incidents on lap six of Saturday’s Canadian Grand Prix sprint race, but decided they did not need to be officially noted or investigated after an initial look left them satisfied the rules had been followed. Antonelli still felt Turn 1 merited a review, saying: “I was quite well alongside and there was definitely contact, so I need to recheck that,” while Russell defended his move by saying: “There was only one direction I was going and I was going to close the line, because that’s my right to do so.”
The FIA stewards took no further action against Lewis Hamilton after investigating him following the Canada Sprint at the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix for allegedly leaving the track and gaining an advantage in his late fight with Oscar Piastri. In their verdict, the stewards said Hamilton was ahead of Piastri at Turn 13 and rejoined still in front after cutting the final chicane, but ruled that "Car 81 was not in an overtaking position on Car 44" and that Hamilton "was not deemed by the stewards to be 'defending' its position hence was not deemed to gain a lasting advantage, consistent with the Driving Standards Guidelines." They also explained why Nico Hulkenberg was penalised earlier in the Sprint for a similar offence against Liam Lawson, making clear the two cases were treated differently because of the rival car’s position at the moment the track limits breach happened.
Toto Wolff said the contact and hard racing between Mercedes drivers George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the Canadian Grand Prix sprint was “great cinema”, but a reminder the team needs to avoid losing races by letting fights escalate. Wolff said: "It was great cinema! Tough fighting, not only between our two but also with Lando [Norris]. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. If you fight a bit, you can lose a race. You don't want to lose a race, you don't want to crash into each other and sometimes it needs a little moment to remind us of our objectives. There is a framework we want to establish and I would rather have it in a Sprint race."
Lando Norris said McLaren were able to “pick up the pieces” to take second place in the Sprint in Canada after watching Mercedes team-mates George Russell and Kimi Antonelli fight over the lead at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Norris said: "It was a good race. It was good just to watch them [the Mercedes pair] go at it for a little while but of course we were there to pick up the pieces when things happened, and they were quick. Kimi caught me back up pretty quickly and then I was pretty worried from behind but also I wanted to try and attack George ahead."
Toto Wolff says Mercedes needs a clear framework for George Russell and Kimi Antonelli’s on-track fighting and does not want it to turn into “Star Wars” headlines, after the pair came together during the Canadian Sprint. Wolff said: "I really enjoy these moments because it allows us to learn and to say, 'Okay, what are we doing with this situation? How are we handling that in the future?'... And we don't want to start with race five and have headlines like Star Wars or this is escalating because it's not."
Toto Wolff said Mercedes cannot expect Kimi Antonelli to be aggressive in the car but calm outside it, after the Italian repeatedly complained over the radio about George Russell’s defending during the Formula 1 sprint in Canada. Toto Wolff said: "You can't expect to have a lion in the car and a puppy outside of it."
Kimi Antonelli says he and Mercedes team-mate George Russell were "both lucky not to crash" after an incident in the sprint race at the Canadian Grand Prix, when Antonelli tried to overtake Russell around the outside at Turn One on lap six and ended up off the track. Antonelli said: "George and I were both lucky not to crash. I was very annoyed by it. I was quite well alongside and there was definitely contact so I need to recheck that."
Lando Norris says Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli are doing “what they need to do” by racing each other hard, after their battle for the lead in the Montreal sprint helped Norris take second when Antonelli ran wide and over the grass. Norris said: "It's just what you get, I think, when you have two good drivers fighting for a championship with a good team, that's what you expect. Each individual has to fight for their own career... at the minute they're fighting more than anyone for the World Championship. So, yeah, that's what they need to do."
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli said he wants “clarity” from the team on how he and George Russell are expected to race each other after their wheel-to-wheel fight in the Sprint in Montreal. Antonelli said: "For sure. I think, we probably just need a bit of clarity. And then once it's clear, then it's all going to be fine, I think. Definitely I need to probably ask again. The main thing for the team is that there's no contact, that we don't crash into each other, which today at the end was very close."
Lewis Hamilton is under FIA investigation after the Canadian Grand Prix Sprint for a possible “leaving the track and gaining an advantage” incident during his late battle with Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc. Hamilton had been running fourth for much of the Sprint but dropped to sixth by the flag after contact with the Wall of Champions and losing out to both Piastri and Leclerc in the closing stages, with the FIA opening the investigation after the race.
Kimi Antonelli said he needs to “review” his battle with Mercedes team-mate George Russell in the 23-lap sprint race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, after contact at Turn 1 left him cutting across the grass and Toto Wolff told him to calm down on the radio. Antonelli said: "It was a tough battle, to be fair. We were there in terms of pace, but it was not easy. I tried to make my move, and I need to review that because I was well alongside, and I got pushed off, but it is what it is."
George Russell said he was glad he and Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli “are standing here after the race” following their early battle in the sprint at the Canadian Grand Prix. Russell said: "Yeah, it was a cool race. It was a good battle with Kimi and, you know, glad we both are standing here after the race."
Drivers' Standings 1) Kimi Antonelli - 106 2) George Russell - 88 3) Charles Leclerc - 63 4) Lando Norris - 58 5) Lewis Hamilton - 54 6) Oscar Piastri - 48 7) Max Verstappen - 28 8) Oliver Bearman - 17 9) Pierre Gasly - 16 10) Liam Lawson - 10 11) Franco Colapinto - 7 12) Arvid Lindblad - 5 13) Isack Hadjar - 4 14) Carlos Sainz Jnr - 4 15) Gabriel Bortoleto - 2 16) Esteban Ocon - 1 17) Alexander Albon - 1 18) Nico Hulkenberg - 0 19) Valtteri Bottas - 0 20) Sergio Perez - 0 21) Fernando Alonso - 0 22) Lance Stroll - 0 Constructors' Standings 1) Mercedes - 194 2) Ferrari - 117 3) McLaren - 106 4) Red Bull - 32 5) Alpine - 23 6) Haas - 18 7) Racing Bulls - 15 8) Williams - 5 9) Audi - 2 10) Cadillac - 0 11) Aston Martin - 0
⚪️ George Russell: "It was a cool race, very difficult to get a gap around here. It felt quite easy to follow and the slipstream felt quite powerful with the Overtake Mode. It was a good battle with Kimi. I'm glad we are both standing here after the race. "I was never really concerned. I knew Miami was a bit of a bogey track and there was this huge break in the calendar. Lots of people had a lot of things to say but ultimately I wanted to get back racing and it kind of feel like the season will really start now with six races in eight weeks." 🟠 Lando Norris:"It was a good race - and good to watch [Kimi and George] go at it for a while! We were there to pick up the pieces when things happened. Mercedes were quick. Kimi caught me back up pretty quickly and I was pretty worried but it was fun on a tough track. Today was a good result for us." ⚪️ Kimi Antonelli: "It was a tough battle to be fair. We were all there in terms of pace. It was not easy. I tried to make my move but I need to review on that because I was well alongside and got pushed off. It is what it is. Then I made a mistake into Turn 8 because I took a big bump, locked up then I compromised my race from there but it was a good battle."
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